Structural fasteners



July 9, 1968 w. H. HALL, JR

STRUCTURAL FASTENERS 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Filed June 1-, 1966 July 9, 1968 w.H. HALL, .1R 3,391,514

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT RS 2 Shee Z n :5T-j fa United States Patent Ofi ice3,391,514 Patented July 9, 1968 3,391,514 STRUCTURAL FASTENERS WiliiamH. Hall, Jr., West Hartford, Conn., assignor to Structural Fasteners,Inc., West Hartford, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed June 13,1966, Ser. No. 557,173 12 Claims. (Cl. 52-599) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLQSURE A structural fastener of the type which ltypically will beembedded in concrete, the fastener comprising a support member and athreaded male member which extends therethrough, the suppor-t memberbeing comprised of a plastic material and supporting the threaded end ofthe male member adjacent to and above a form prior to the pouring of theconcrete. The support member is designed to absorb impact during pouringof the concrete and to prevent seepage from the concrete from contactingthe threads at the load engaging end of the male member. The supportmember is typically affixed to the form over which the concrete ispoured by means of an adhesive and provides the sole means for supportof the male member prior to and during the pouringy of the concrete, thesupport member serving no useful purpose once the concrete has set andthe form has been stripped.

This invention relates to structural fasteners. More particularly, thisinvention is directed to the supporting of articles from structurescomprised of a mass of coalesced material. Accordingly, the generalobjects of this invention are to provide new and improved methods anda,- paratus of such character.

While not limited thereto in its utility, the present invention isparticularly well suited for use in the supporting of objects from flooror wall constructions comprised of concrete. It is known in the art tomake provision for the supporting of objects such as livht fixtures,conduits and the like from the underside of concrete slabs by partiallyembedding members known as inserts in the concrete. Hangers for theobjects to be suspended are thereafter attached to the exposed portionof the embedded concrete inserts. A typical prior art anchor bolt typefastener or concrete insert is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 1,960,728issued May 29, 1934, to E. C. Cannon. Prior art inserts of the typeexemplified by the Cannon patent have inherent diiiciencies. Firstly, itis necessary to provide a support member to hold the insert in thedesired position prior to the pouring of the concrete. In the past,these support members have typically been comprised -of metallic orWooden elements which were affixed to the removable forms on which theconcrete was poured. In the case of forms comprised of Wood, the supportmembers were affixed thereto by means of nails or screws. In the case ofremovable steel forms, mounting of the support members was a far greaterproblem. In either case, installation of the prior art supports was arelatively expensive process in terms of man hours. Secondly, it hasbeen considered desirable to try to recover the support members forreuse when the forms were stripped from the concrete. The recovery andcleaning added to the expense of the use of these devices. Thirdly,prior art threaded -male type inserts required the provision of holes inthe forms on which the concrete was poured; the threaded portion of theinsert extending from the underside of the form. Also, with maleinserts, thread fouling which necessitated a clean- CTI ing operationafter the concrete had set was an ever present problem. The fouling ofthe threads on the male inserts resulted from seepage of watercontaining suspended particles to the inside of the support member fromthe uncoalesced concrete.

In an attempt to overcome the inherent deficiencies of anchor bolt typemale fasteners of the type described above, there has been a trend tothe use of channel-type mem-bers which are embedded in the concrete. Foran example of such channel-type inserts, reference may be had to U.S.Patent No. 1,035,525, issued Aug. 13, 1912, to W. W. Bright. While thechannel-type inserts provide an advantage in flexibility over the anchor`bolt type concrete insert, the channel-type inserts suffered from manyof the disadvantages noted above. Further, the hangers which aresuspended within the prior art channels carry the hanging load to theinsert (channel) rather than directly to the concrete itself.Accordingly, a heavy load may cause distortion or tearing of the insert.The tearing or distorting can be eliminated, at the expense of asubstantial increase in weight, by resort to heavy gauge materials.Accordingly, an added disadvantage of substantial weight is alsocharacteristic of prior art inserts of both unitary and channelconfiguration.

The present invention overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages of theprior art `by providing apparatus which is intended to be embedded inpart in material such as concrete, said insert being light weight, easyto install and having desirable load bearing characteristics.

It is therefore, an object of this invention to provide an improvedstructural fastener.

It is another object of this invention to provide a structural fastenerwhich is designed to 'be embedded in part in a structural member andwhich is easier to install on a form than prior art devices of suchcharacter.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a cony crete insertwhich is lighter in weight than prior art devices of such character.

It is yet another object of this inven-tion to provide a concrete insertwhich is of lighter Weight and is easier to install on a form than priorart devices of such character and which provides for load supporting bya member directly embedded in the concrete.

It is another object of this invention to provide a threaded maleconcrete insert which does not require defacing of the form on which itis positioned, such defacing usually taking the form of a pattern ofholes.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a concrete insertwhich has a plurality of load supporting elements, is light weight, canbe easily and rapidly positioned on the forms over which the concrete isto be poured and in which the load bearing elements are embeddeddirectly in the concrete.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a concreteinsert having means for supporting the load bearing member during thepouring of the concrete, which supporting means may be left embedded inthe concrete without constituting an economic disadvantage.

It is another object of this invention to yprovide a light Weightconcrete insert which defines a channel having a plurality of threadedmale load bearing elements disposed therein, said elements beingembedded directly in the concrete and said channel defining memberlbeing left in the concrete Without constituting an economicdisadvantage.

These and other objects of the present invention are realized byproviding a concrete insert comprising a threaded male member andspacer-support means therefor, the combination being designed forpositioning on a removable form prior to the pouring of concrete orother coalescable material thereover. The spacer-support means is moldedfrom a plastic material and is affixed to the removable form by means ofan adhesive. The threaded male member, which comprises the element fromwhich object hangers are later mounted, passes through an aperture inthe molded support means so that its threaded end is positioned adjacentto the form. The `opposite or unthreaded end of the male member, whichopposite end is of other than circular cross section, is spaced from themolded support means on the side away from the form and will thu-s beembedded in the concrete. The suspended load is connected to thethreaded end of the thus embedded male member and is transmitteddirectly to the concrete via the male member; the means supporting themale member on the form prior to pouring of the concrete being left inplace and not serving any purpose once the concrete has hardened.

This invention may be better understood and its numerous advantages willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to theaccompanying drawing wherein like reference numerals refer to likeelements in the various figures and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a first embodiment of this inventionpositioned on a removable form prior to the deposition of a coalesablematerial thereover.

FIGURE 2 is a bottom view of the embodiment of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of FIGURE 1 afterthe structural material has been been poured and coalesced and the formstripped.

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional side view of a second embodiment of thisinvention in position in a structure of poured concrete.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view, partially in section, of a thirdembodiment of this invention positioned on a removable form.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, a first embodiment of the present inventioncomprising a threaded male member, bolt 10, and supporting means 12 isshown. Elements and 12 cooperate to form a novel concrete insert orstructural fastener which is depicted as being positioned upon aremovable form 14. In the embodiment of FIGURE l, supporting means 12 issubstantially cupshaped and has a main body portion 16. Extendingdownwardly and outwardly from body portion 16 is fiange or leg means 18which defines the sides of the cup. Leg means 18 has an outwardlyextending foot portion 20 which supports the insert on form 14 prior tothe pouring of a `coalescable material thereover. Support means 12 isfabricated from a plastic material such as polyethylene and is formedinto the desired shape by injection molding or other suitable technique.ln order to enhance the resistance of support element 12 to crushing,the outer walls of leg portion 18 are molded in a parabolic shape asshown. That is, in cross section, the outer surface of support means 12defines a half a parabola with the apex cut off. The body portion 16 ofsupport means 12 is provided with a centrally located aperture forreceiving bolt 10. In the usual instance, the aperture for bolt 10 willbe formed during the molding process. However, the aperture could beproduced by drilling body portion 16 either at the factory or in theIfield. In any event, the aperture provided in body portion 16 ofsupport member 12 is slightly smaller in diameter than the diameter ofbolt 10.

Bolt 10 may be any standard steel bolt having a head which is of otherthan circular cross section. Preferably, bolt 10 will have a hexagonalshaped head as shown. Bolt 10 must be sufficiently long to enable thehead to be displaced from body portion 16 of support member 12 when itsthreaded end is adjacent the form 14. ln practice, it has been foundpreferable to have at least half of bolt 10 extend past the top ofsupport member 12. Bolt 10 is threaded so as to enable connection to ahanger for an object to be suspended from the structure after thestructural material has been deposited, set and form 14 removed. Inpractice, it has been found preferable to extend the thread at leasthalf way up the bolt so that the portion of the bolt disposed within theaperture in body portion 16 of support member 12 is threaded` Thethreads will thus engage the walls of the aperture and will preventseepage of water from the concrete onto the exposed threads.

Support means 12 and bolt 10 are usually assembled at their point ofmanufacture and, once on the construction site, the insert is positionedVon form 14 at a point corresponding to a location on the structure fromwhich it is desired to later suspend an object. It is, of course,understood that in actual practice a plurality of the inserts of theembodiment of FIGURE 1 would be positioned on form 14, usually in a gridpattern. The insert is held in place on the form by means of anadhesive. Typically, this adhesive will comprise a double faced pressuresensitive tape such as No. 411 available from the Minnesota Mining andManufacturing Corporation. Such a tape is shown at 22 in FIGURES l and5. The tape will be appiied to the insert as a step in the manufacturethereof. Thus, in the field, it is merely necessary to peel a protectivepaper from the second face of tape 22 and apply the insert to the form14 at the desired position. ln some cases, for example when form 14 isvery dirty, it may be necessary to enhance the securing action of theadhesive by stapling the flanged foot portion 20 of support means 12 tothe form.

It should be noted that slipping or tipping of the member 12 isprevented both by the adhesive and by bolt 10 which contacts the upperface of tape 22 and is locked in member 12 by its threads. It is furtherworthy of note that the adhesive serves the added purpose of preventingleakage of water from the uncoalesced concrete into the area,surrounding the threaded end of bolt 10, defined by leg means 1S. Aspreviously noted, should this water contact the threads on the bolt,fouling may occur due to deposition of sand and other material suspendedin the water.

FIGURE 3 shows the insert of FIGURE 1 after the coalescable material 24,in this case concrete, has been poured and hardened and form 14 strippedaway. A particularly novel feature of this invention is that objecthangers may be readily attached to the exposed threaded end of bolt 10and the bolt itself acts as the load supporting element. Due to theirregular shape of the head of bolt 10, the bolt will be held firmly bythe concrete in which it is embedded and will not turn when hanger-s orother objects are turned thereon. The support means 12 is left in placein the concrete as shown. It should be noted that, due to its materialstrength and configuration, and also due to the strength of the bondestablished between the support member and form, the insert will neithermove nor collapse when concrete or other material is poured thereover.While the polyethylene support means may be more expensive than similarmetallic devices, use thereof is nevertheless economical for severalreasons. First, due to its lower weight, substantial savings in shippingcosts are realized. Secondly, since the material is flexible, it willspring back to its original shape if accidently kicked or subjected toother impact prior to the pouring of the concrete or if distorted duringthe pouring. Metallic support means, on the other hand, are often dentedthus requiring time consuming reshaping if discovered prior to pouringor, if not discovered, rendering the insert unusable. Another importantbenefit derived from use of flexible support means is that any impact onthe support means, such as occurs during the pour, will not beimmediately transmitted to the adhesive. if a rigid support means wasemployed, stresses caused by impact would immediately tend to causefracture of the adhesive. As previously noted, use of the inserts of thepresent invention also obviates the necessity of defacing the forms.Since there is no need to provide holes for the inserts, future use ofthe forms is not limited or dictated by a pattern of holes.

Referring now to FIGURE 4, a concrete insert comprising a pair ofsupport elements 3G and 32, each identical to support means 12 of theembodiment of FIGURE 1 are shown. Support elements 30 and 32 are joinedby a web member 34. The entire device is injectioned molded as a unitand, when embedded in concrete 36 as shown, assures proper spacingbetween the load supporting threaded male members 38 and 40. In ordert-o suspend a hanger member 42 from the structure comprising concreteslab 36, a pair of drilled, internally threaded members 44 and 46 arerespectively turned onto the exposed, threaded ends of members 3S and40. The hanger 42 is locked against the end of members 44 and 46disposed away from the slab by means of lock nuts 52 and 54.

FIGURE 5 depicts an embodiment of the present invention having a channel'configuration positioned on a removable form 60. The bolt supportingmember 62 of this channel-shaped embodiment is comprised of polyethyleneextruded so as to have the same cross section as the single units of theFIGURE l embodiment. As with the other embodiments, the channed-shapedbolt supporting member is held at the desired point on a wooden formprior to the pouring of concrete by means of a suitable adhesive. Asnoted above, this adhesive can be a double faced pressure sensitive tape22 which spans the entire area between the outer edges lof feet 64. Inactual practice, a plurality of inserts of the type shown in FIG- URE 5will be positioned on the form in parallel relationship to one another-Typically, bolts 66 will be positioned l2 inches apart in each ofchannel shaped members 62. The channel shaped members will be spaced onthe form at regular intervals, in standard practice usually two or fourfeet on centers. This results in a grid pattern of load supportingelements.

While preferred embodiments have been shown and described, variousmodifications and substitutions may be made without departing from thespirit and scope of this invention. For example, while emphasis has beenplaced on the use of threaded male members as the load bearing elements,a snap on or quick connect design can be incorporated into the exposedend of the load bearing element in place of the threads. Accordingly, itis to be understood that this invention has been described by way ofillustration rather than limitation.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for suspending articles from a structure consisting of amass of coalesced material comprising:

a load supporting member adapted to be partially embedded in thecoalesced material, said load supporting member comprising a threadedmale member having a first end of other than circular cross-section; and

means for holding said load supporting member prior to deposition ofsaid material thereover, said holding means having an apertured bodyportion and iiange means extending downwardly and outwardly therefrom,said flange means having a portion being adapted to rest upon a form,said male member extending through said aperture in sealing relationshiptherewith and being supported solely by said body portion with its axissubstantially perpendicular to the surface of a form upon which saidflange means rests, the threaded end of said male member being disposedintermediate of said flange means and adjacent and above the form, thefirst end of said male member being spacially displaced from said bodyportion, said holding means preventing seepage of or from said materialfrom contacting the threaded portion of said male member disclosedintermediate of said flange means.

6 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said holding means comprises:

an insert formed from a plastic material, said plastic material engaginga plurality of threads of said male member where said male member passesthrough said aperture in said body portion of said holding means.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said plastic material ispolyethylene.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising:

adhesive means positioned on the portions of said flange means adaptedto rest upon a form. 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said adhesivemeans comprises:

a double faced pressure sensitive tape. 6. The apparatus of claim 4wherein said moldable plastic holding means comprises:

an apertured body portion having curved outer walls, leg means extendingdownwardly and outwardly from said body portion, said leg means defininga space therebetween, the outer surface of said leg means and said bodyportion defining a smooth surface having the shape of a portion of aparabola; and

foot means extending outwardly from the bottom of said leg means, saidfoot means being adapted to rest upon a form and to support said holdingmeans with the axis tof the aperture in said body portion perpendicularto the form.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said leg means and body portiondefine a substantially cup shaped member.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said leg means and body portiondefine a channel shaped member, said member having a plurality ofapertures therein.

9. rIhe apparatus of claim 7 wherein said foot means defines alongitudinally extending web member, said web member extending to asecond holding means.

10. A structural fastener comprising:

an insert support member, said support member being comprised of aplastic material and having an apertured body portion and a flange meansextending downwardly therefrom, said flange means being adapted to reston the upper side of a removable form;

adhesive means affixed to at least those portions of said fiange meanswhich are intended to contact a form, said adhesive means serving tosecure said support member on a form; and

a load supporting insert, said insert having a first end portion adaptedto be embedded in a mass of coalesced material and a second end portionadapted to be engaged by a suspended load, said second end portionpassing through said aperture in said body portion of said supportmember and terminating lnterrnediate said flange means and adjacent toand above a form, the cross-sectional area of said second end portionbeing greater than the cross-sectional area of said aperture wherebysaid insert is held firmly and supported solely by said support member.

11. The article of claim 10 wherein said insert support membercomprises:

an apertured body portion having curved outer walls;

leg means extending downwardly and outwardly from said body portion,said leg means defining a space therebetween; and

foot means extending outwardly from the bottom of said leg means, saidfoot means being adapted to rest upon a form and to support said insertwith the axis of the aperture in said body portion perpendicular to theform.

12. The article of claim 11 wherein an outer surface of said leg meansand said body portion define a smooth surface having the shape of aportion of a parabola.

(References on following page) References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTSKeith 52-699 Kelly 52--699 Curley 52-699 Phillips 52--699 Rapp 52-704 XRMcNair 52-706 XR 8 FOREIGN PATENTS 591,036 8/1947 Great Britain.1,333,580 6/1963 France.

909,298 10/1962 Great Britain.

BOBBY R. GAY, Prilzary Examiner.

A. M. CALVERT, Assistant Examiner.

